Is Keeping Chickens a Good Idea For You?

What!!???

Your wife (or husband, friend, mother, father, etc…) just heard your idea about keeping chickens in the back yard.

They think you’re crazy.

Maybe you are crazy.  But that doesn’t really address the issue, now does it?

The real issue is “is keeping chickens a good idea or not”?

Well, let’s look first at the facts.  Chickens provide food, either in the form of eggs or meat.  Do we as human beings need food?  hmmmmm…. let’s see now.   YES!

What do chickens offer in addition to being part of our food supply?  That’s a fair question.  One could legitimately ask the same of dogs.  But dog-lovers would unquestioningly be offended if you asked it, because a dog is a “pet”, they always love you, etc..

Very few people think of chickens as pets, yet, the truth is, they very well can be.  They have personalities, are social animals and respond well to humans.  They may not be able to chase a stick like a dog, but then dogs can’t lay eggs!

What other benefits do you get from keeping chickens?

Well, if you let them roam around the yard freely (like you should), they reward you by eating all the insects, eating the grass (you won’t need to worry about mowing your lawn) and finally, they provide nitrogen-rich fertilzer which is very beneficial for your land.

We’ve seen now that chickens do provide benfits.  They make good pets, they provide food and they help eliminate those annoying bugs and insects from our property.

But we still haven’t addressed the issue of “is keeping chickens right for you”?  We’ve only looked at the benefits…

What is the downside to keeping chickens?

First, you need to have space to keep them.  In order for chickens to be healthy and happy, they need space to roam around and do what chickens do.

Secondly, they need other chickens.  They’re social birds and a solitary chicken is an unhappy chicken.

Thirdly, they need a place to live and nest.  You can either build a chicken coop or you can buy one, but they need protection from other animals and the elements.

Lastly, you need to take care of them.  That being said, chickens are pretty much a low maintenance animal.  You need to provide chicken feed, but the truth is if they spend all day ranging around your yard, they’ve been eating all day (remember those bugs they’re getting rid of?).  So, your cost of feed is pretty minimal.

You need to clean the hen house every now and then, but if you compare it to walking a dog and cleaning up the poop, cleaning a fish bowl or emptying the litter box, its not such a bad deal.   There is no such thing as a maintenance-free animal.

You can feel pretty good about telling your wife (or brother, sister, mom or dad) that you aren’t crazy and that it’s actually a good idea!